It's Miller Time

Sitting here in an empty Miller Park with about three grounds crew members on the field and not a sound to be heard. Kind of eerie and from what I understand, much better than last night.

Fortunately, I took the red eye to Milwaukee, as my former boss at the Dodgers, Brian Reisner, got married last night. But when I got to the hotel at 7:30 a.m., I could tell it must’ve been an interesting night for the rest of the team and staff members.

There was some sort of youth convention at our hotel last night and judging from the teenagers still awake when I got there at 7:30 and scattered throughout the halls with empty bottles, I got the sense that I got more sleep on the red eye stopping in Kansas City than some of the guys on the team. It’s kind of ironic how serene it is at the ballpark right now vs. what they’re telling me it was like last night at the hotel.

Nonetheless, it’s Labor Day, so let’s get to work.

Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Betemit, 3B

Martin, C

Maddux, P

Also, Giovanni Carrara and Tim Hamulack are back with the club, and there was a surprise addition today, too. The team purchased the contract of Eric Stults, who was with us in Spring Training and spent the year at Triple-A Las Vegas. He went 10-11 with a 4.23 this year, which is pretty impressive in the Pacific Coast League, a hitter’s circuit. I rode over to the park with Aaron Sele who had great things to say about Eric’s mental makeup and ability to pitch.

There could still be more guys coming up later this week, so stay tuned.

eric stults is a typical lefthanded pitcher, decent fastball, with good offspeed stuff, hes 26 years old, so hes no longer a prospect, but hes solid.. but forget about him, wheres andy laroche?.. he needs to be brought up..

hey dumb *****. i am laughing, the team you mentioned was last years team, can u tell me how they did? please, put moneyball down, put the crack pipe down, stop praying to your depodesta shrine… the team is winning!!! i could care less how they win, as long as they win.. i bet you hated the ’88 team.. stop pretending your a dodger fan.. go down to san diego and eat your fish tacos

Stultz looks like he’s worth a try as a lefthanded starter, particularly since we don’t have anyone in the #5 position who can win. I’m not against bringing up Andy LaRoche, but let’s not forget that we have a solid third baseman now in Betemit, whom I really like. Andy has not put in much time at the AAA level. Let him compete in spring training for a shot at staying with the Dodgers. Right now I’m going to bet on Betemit holding the third base position.

Joey, Joey, Joey !!
When they take that jacket off you and let you out of the farm for the mentally stupid, try taking a history class becasue you wouldn’t know a statistic if it bit you in the Butt !!! First place is all that matters and even if we weren’t in first we’d be leading the Wild Card. So like it or not your worse fear is about to come true !! The Dodgers are a team to contend with and it’s killing you. I suggest you crawl under a rock and hope for next year !!

BTW, it’s 1-0 top of the 3rd in Wis. The pain just keeps coming Joey !!!

Unbelievable pitcher selection – putting Carrara in with bases loaded and game on the line. I don’t mind having him back on the team to grind out an inning or two when there is not much to lose, but this is just giving the game away. Why replace Maddux if you’re going to bring in Carrara in a situation like that.

The pitching has been kept together with duct tape and a prayer all season long. Now suddenly, Penny is struggling, Lowe is tiring, Maddux is looking more mortal by the outing, Bills is injured – and things are beginning to look a little tricky. We have four remaining against the Mets and four against those Dodger-killers, the Padres. The Padres, this year’s road warriors, have more remaining on the road than at home. The Dodgers, not your road warriors at all, no sir, have more remaining on the road than at home, too.

We would do extremely well to snatch the pennant this year. We may hope for the wildcard. That four-game lead is not near as good as it seems – we have a road to the post-season that is quite a lot tougher than the one the Padres have!

Great job managing; One run down, bases loaded, you bring your worst pitcher, someone whom EVERY TEAM IN BASEBALL passed on last week when you DFAd him. After he blows the game, you then ‘waste’ your best reliever. What an idiot!

I think it may be time to sit Ethier down for a few games. His average keeps sliding, and I would no longer put him in competition for Rookie of the Year. Martin has a much better chance for that honor now, and more deserved. Ethier just should get a rest, so he can hopefully go all out for the rest of the stretch.

Rarely will I turn off a televised Dodger game, but when Grady brought in Carrara today, I knew we were toast and I did so. (I turned it back on a few minutes later only to confirm my suspicions). The guy isn’t worthy of a spot on a Single-A roster.

The only guy worse to have on the mound is Hendrickson. If Grady starts him again, he has only himself to blame. The guy is our “Designated Loser” and even HE knows it. You can see it in his eyes. PLEASE Grady – Give the start to Kuo. He struck out the side in the top of the 9th on Saturday. The guy has finally matured into what we had hoped for earlier in the season.

I know nothing of Eric Stultz, but as fliegel@ptd.net so accurately noted, I doubt he could be much worse than Hendrickson!

We have the team to win the West, so long as we keep Carrara and Hendrickson off of the mound.

Hey OLD GUYS !! I’m not quite as old, I was born in 53. But I was at the very first Dodger game in the colisium, so I was told.

This team can do it, but I to am concern about our choice of SP & relivers. Hendrickson and Carrara both look beat before they ever throw a pitch. We need someone with confidence, I was hoping Sele would garner it, maybe he still can. It’s going to be a dog fight to the end.

Not great, surely, but ok. This is Mark Hendrickson’s record as a Dodger away from Dodger Stadium. Provided the offense can score 4 runs, the Dodgers should be fine. Having Kent and Nomar play might help.

After sleeping on it im still just amazed at how badly our bullpen was used yesterday. I also had to turn off the TV with Gio in and the bases loaded… look at the guys game log? He is a DISASTER. I can see using him in blowouts to save bullpen arms, but how do you put him in a 4-3 game with the bases loaded. Then to use Broxton in the 9th when the game is very likely lost. Can anyone make any sense out of this at all? Only thing I can think of is they mentioned Gio gets ground balls, but man, hes been getting blasted lately. I really don’t see how a mistake like that can be made.

I’m not the oldest, but the first bet I ever lost was on the Dodgers in the ’56 series. Imade it to the second game in the coleseum, but the only thing I really remember is Willy Mays getting thrown out trying to steal third. Must of been Roseboro. I always have wondered how Campy would have gotten along with the screen, what with all those high flies he hit.
Tonight would be a good time for Hendrickson to come up large. I don’t think he’s anyones favorite, but maybe we should send some good thoughts his way.

I agree with “knouffbrock”, lets get behind the guys we have. After all most of us agreed that dealing for Wells was to expensive and that we should stay with what got us here. Some of Grady’s moves don’t make sense to me either, but he’s the baseball guy, maybe even Manager of the Year !!! After all, JD is coming through just as he planed in the strech and he sees a lot more of what’s needed then we do, so lets keep the faith and trust in the team.
Believe in the Blue !!

its very dissapointing that the dodgers dont plan to call up any more pitchers, we have johnathan meloan, mark alexander, and greg miller who are no worse than gio or hamulack.. and i guess we will have to wait till next year to see andy laroche in the bigs.. hopefully hendrickson resembles a pitcher today, and does something good, and is grady little loosing it?.. y bring in broxton!.. i hope we turn it around, and nomar realizes that there is still a month left in the season..

hey interpol, i’m ok with laroche being shut down, i dont want him to injure himself even more, i’m not ok with the pitchers that we brought up, its ridiculous to think that carrara and hamulack are gonna contribute..

Nomar the automatic out is currently the guy hurting the offense the most. I hope he gets back on track. We keep hearing how the guys are veterans and know how to win and play and that’s why they’re in the lineup and yes, you have to take the slumps with the hitting streaks, but I hope he manages to get his stuff back soon – time’s running out in this season!

I agree with Interpol, sounds like LaRoche is done for the season. Looks like your going to have to wait for spring training Ray !! Better to be safe then sorry, if he’s hurt we need to attend to that ASAP !!!

It’s almost as if how Nomar goes the Dodgers go !! We need Nomar heathy and contributing !! Every day is going to be a nail biter !! God you got to love Baseball !!

Wait, is “Nomar the automatic out” the guy who had 6 RBIs on Saturday? Come on guy, hes been a little less potent sice the knee injury, but you have to let players work through stuff. Still hitting well over .300 isnt he? Theres no question the guy can hit.

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